According to a press release from the prosecutor, Mr. DiMassa supposedly formed an LLC with another person and used that LLC to bill the City of West Haven for consulting services that were not in fact provided. Allegedly, Mr. DiMassa made withdrawals from the LLC at about the same time he made large chip purchases at Mohegan Sun casino. One might suspect the government to argue that Mr. DiMassa’s fraud was the result of a gambling addiction.

Of course, nothing has been proven as of yet. But if Mr. DiMassa is in fact convicted of wire fraud for allegedly stealing $600,000, he is likely looking at a Federal Sentencing Guidelines range of between 33 and 57 months. In federal cases, crimes have minimum and maximum penalties, but judges use an advisory system called the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to narrow down the sentencing range. Those guidelines give defendants and attorneys an idea of what to expect at sentencing, but are nevertheless just approximations. This table provides the guidance.

Assuming that Mr. DiMassa has no significant criminal record, he would be categorized as Criminal History Category I (for first offenders). Then, people convicted of wire fraud begin at a base offense level of 7. A loss of $600,000 adds an additional 14 offense levels. He might also get an additional 2 level enhancement for defrauding a government agency. See USSG 2B1.1(b)(9). At a sentencing level of 23, he would be facing a Guidelines range of 46-57 months. If he were to plead guilty and accept responsibility, however, he would probably receive a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, yielding a final offense level of 20 and a Guidelines range of 33-41 months in prison.

Most federal defendants plead guilty after negotiating the general terms of the guilty plea (i.e. the amount of fraudulent loss attributable to the defendant, the role of the defendant in the crime, etc), and then a judge determines the specific and appropriate sentence for the defendant after the guilty plea has been entered. Federal criminal practice differs significantly from state court practice in this regard, as most sentences are explicitly negotiated before pleading guilty in state court. In federal court, when defendants plead guilty, they have an idea of what they might receive, but they don’t really know for sure what will happen to them until after their guilty pleas have been irrevocably entered before the court.

Also, if he is convicted, Mr. DiMassa will also certainly be required to pay restitution in the full amount, and/or sign a forfeiture order such that property belonging to him can be seized by the government to pay back the criminal debts.

If you or a loved one have been arrested for federal wire fraud, you should strongly consider contacting Matthew Galluzzo. Mr. Galluzzo is a former Manhattan prosecutor and current resident of Connecticut, with over twenty years of experience in criminal law. He is a member of the Criminal Justice Act panels for both the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, meaning that federal judges appoint him to represent defendants in difficult federal cases throughout New York City, and he is admitted to practice in federal court in Connecticut.

Most of the time however, people accused of this crime are frequently also charged with other crimes, too. For example, this charge is frequently brought against those who lie to U.S. Customs officials about their possession of cash, in conjunction with a charge of 31 USC § 5361(a)(1)(A). It is also common in health care fraud matters for a defendant to be charged with violating both 18 U.S.C. § 1035 – making false statements relating to health care matters – as well as 18 U.S.C. § 1001. In any case, the additional charge for making false statements may not be as serious as the underlying crime for which the defendant was originally investigated, but the fact that the defendant lied to law enforcement can be viewed as an “aggravating factor” by the judge at sentencing, meaning that it could seriously increase the ultimate sentence that the defendant will serve.

Though the maximum possible statutory penalty for this offense is five years in prison, pursuant to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the base offense level for this crime is 6. This base offense level means that a person convicted of this crime (and this crime alone) is more likely to receive a sentence of between 0 to 6 months in prison.

If you or a loved one have been arrested or are being investigated by federal law enforcement officers, you should strongly consider hiring the experienced federal criminal defense attorneys at the Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo. Their team of former Manhattan prosecutors has successfully represented individuals arrested and accused of making false statements to law enforcement officers. They may be able to help you as well.

The sentencing range for the original criminal charges under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines was 12-18 months (Base Offense Level of 13 with a two level increase for obstructing justice offset by a possible two level reduction for acceptance of responsibility following a guilty plea). Of course, the client also now faced the possibility of additional criminal charges and penalties for acting as a fugitive and failing to appear in court. The prosecution initially submitted a proposed plea agreement whereby the client would receive a sentence of between 12-18 months in prison.

However, the attorneys at The Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo presented to the federal prosecutor considerable mitigating evidence of our client’s life story and family, as well as circumstances surrounding his original crimes. Ultimately, the prosecutors agreed to allow the client to plead guilty to the second count of the original indictment and avoid additional charges for acting as a fugitive. The second count of the indictment carried a 0-6 month Guidelines sentence, representing a considerable savings on the original 12-18. Then, we were able to persuade the judge to schedule an expedited sentencing hearing and ultimately to sentence our client to time served. Thus, instead of receiving a sentence of between 12-18, as it originally appeared our client would, our client received a sentence of less than four months. Obviously, the client is quite happy with the result.

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a violation of federal criminal law in Brooklyn or Queens (i.e. the Eastern District of New York), you should strongly consider contacting the experienced federal criminal defense attorneys at the Law Office of Matthew Galluzzo. Their team of former prosecutors has considerable experience representing individuals charged with a wide variety of crimes in that courthouse, and may be able to help you as well.